Distributor Sales 2008

Some highlights from this year’s study include:

• Distributor sales fell 6.6 percent from 2006 to 2008. Sales now total $23.1 billion.

• The majority of distributors sell locally (within a 60 mile radius).

• Industrial, educational, and contract cleaners are the largest market segments by distributor sales in 2008.

• As in the past, paper and plastics are the leading product category by sales volume.

• Towels/facial tissue/toilet tissue continues to be the product that sold the most by dollar volume.


This study was designed, prepared and conducted by the Research Department of Trade Press Media Group, publisher of Sanitary Maintenance magazine in conjunction with the ISSA. Its primary purpose was to gather information on distributor sales of chemicals, janitorial supplies, paper/plastic products and power equipment. Data shown in this report was derived from non-duplicated questionnaires returned from a random sample of Sanitary Maintenance readers which includes ISSA members. Projected market totals were computed using weighted means. Dollar figures presented represent sales by distributors after markup. Estimates for manufacturer sales based on these figures are difficult to make since markup varies from category to category and from one distribution to another.